1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to defibrillation paddles. More particularly, the present invention relates to defibrillation paddles that are used internally within the body and directly contact the tissue of the heart.
2. Prior Art Description
It is known that a heart muscle that has stopped or is beating erratically can sometimes be caused to beat normally by passing an electric charge to the heart. The science of where, when and how to apply an electrical charge to the heart has been evolving for many years.
Defibrillators are machines that are specifically designed to pass an electrical charge into a patient's heart. In the field of defibrillators, there are non-intrusive defibrillators and intrusive defibrillators. Non-intrusive defibrillators have electrodes that attach to the skin of a patient. The non-intrusive defibrillators pass an electric charge through the body from one external point to another. Such non-intrusive defibrillators are used by rescue workers, paramedics and the like to revive a person whose heart may have stopped.
Since non-intrusive defibrillators pass electricity through the body, hoping to effect the heart, large electrical charges are used. These charges often cause the skin of the patient to burn at the areas where the defibrillator is attached to the body and where electricity passes into and out of the patient's body.
Intrusive defibrillators are used by physicians primarily in the operating room of hospitals. During many surgical procedures, a patient's heart may be temporarily stopped. In such situations, the patient's blood flow is transferred to an external pump. Once the surgical procedure is complete, a defibrillator is commonly used to restart the heart. When the heart muscle itself is exposed, the paddle terminals of the defibrillator are touched directly to the heart muscle. A small jolt of electricity is then passed through the tissue of the heart muscle to restart the heart's beat. Since the electricity is being applied directly to the heart muscle, smaller charges of electricity are used. However, even these smaller charges of electricity can result in some heart muscle tissue becoming burned in the areas of contact with the defibrillator's paddles.
One way to reduce the potential of damage to the heart muscle is to decrease the surface area of the heart that is physically contacted during a defibrillation attempt. In the prior art, defibrillator systems have been made that use only one paddle. In such systems, a patient is laid upon a conductive pad. A single paddle is provided. Both the single paddle and the conductive pad are connected to the defibrillator. The single paddle is then touched to the tissue of the heart. Electricity passes through the heart, through the back of the body and to the conductive pad. Since only one paddle is used, the area of the heart that directly contacts the paddle is reduced in half. Such prior art defibrillation systems are exemplified by Japanese Reference No JP2001121885, entitled Defibrillating Electrode And Defibrillation System.
A key to avoiding tissue damage made by a defibrillator paddle is to have uniform contact between the paddle and the tissue of the heart muscle. With prior art defibrillation systems, the paddle of the defibrillator is a fixed structure. That is, the contact surface of the defibrillator is at a fixed orientation with respect to the handle that is held by the physician.
Depending upon the reactions of the heart muscle, a doctor may decide to shock the heart at a specific spot. That location may be on the top of the heart or along one of the sides of the heart. However, it is often difficult to maneuver the defibrillator paddle to that portion of the heart while still maintaining a flush contact between the defibrillator paddle and the tissue of the heart. If there is not a flush contact, the odds greatly increase that the defibrillator paddle may cause an electrical burn upon the heart. Furthermore, without a flush contact, the defibrillator may fail to effect the heart muscle in the desired manner.
A need therefore exists for an improved defibrillator paddle design, wherein the orientation between the contact surface of the paddle and the handle of the paddle can be selectively adjusted. In this manner, the paddle can be oriented to the needs of the doctor, thereby making the defibrillator paddle less dangerous and more effective. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.